Kite



" April 15 Y A. B. WILDER KITE Filed Dec. 21, 1922 IN VENTOR 4 4% A HisA TTORNE w,

i atented Apr. 15, 1924.

ALLEN B. WILDER, OF ST. LGUIS, liIISSGURI, ASSIGNOR TO VJILDERMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OFMISSOURI.

KITE.

Application filed December 21, 1922.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALLEN B. TILDER, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have inventeda new and useful Improvement in Kites, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to kites and has for its principal objects todevise a kite that is light and easy to handle in the air, that is ofpleasing appearance and that does not require the use of a tail.

The invention consists principally in making a kite that is providedwith a substantially flat upper or lifting surface and a rounded orbowed surface extending from side to side of the flat surface. The invention further consists in the kite and in the parts and combinations ofparts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the unassembled kite;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the assembled kite and v Fig. 3 is aside view of the kite as it appears in the air.

The kite is made of any suitable material such as paper and comprises atop plane or 89 wing 1 and a curved or bowed lower mem-' her 2connecting the Side edges of the top plane, the kite being open at bothends. At one end, the curved member 2 is re-inforced with a suitable rib3, preferably made of wood. The curved member is provided witl a similarre-inforcing rib a at some distance from the end, in practice usuallynear the middle. Said second re-inforcing' rib Al is parallel to thefirst reinforcing rib 3.

The meeting edges of the top plane and the curved member are preferablystifiened or re-inforced by suitable members 5 heavy gummed tape beingindicated in the drawing.

As shown in Fig. '1, the kite is conveniently made from a single sheetof ma terial A, of the proper size to form both the top plane and thelower curved member. The end re-inforcing rib 3 is secured at the sideedge of the sheet, a portion 6 of the sheet being folded back over therib and secured thereto, as by an adhesive. The second re-inforcing rib4 is secured to the sheet parallel to the end rib. A gummed re-inforcingstrip 5 is secured along the side edge Serial No. 608,156.

of the sheet (the edge of the bowed member) at the ends of thereinforcing ribs 3, 4, a portion 7 of said gummed strip projectingbeyond the sheet for use in assembling the kite, as will be hereinafterexplained. The other gummed strip 5 is secured to the sheet A, parallelto the first gummed strip, and extending on both sides of the line 7(indicated in dot and dash in Fig. 1) that marks the junction betweenthe top plane 1 and the curved member 2 when the kite is assembled.Thus, the gummed re-inforcing strips strengthen the meeting edges of thetwo members of the kite, as hereinbefore pointed out.

The kite is preferably shipped or stored in the flat, the gummed stripat the edge being creased along the edge of the sheet, and the othergummed strip being likewise creased in a line extending across the sheetat the ends of the ribs, (the junction between the top plane and thelower member when the kite is assembled) thus making-it easy to properlyassemble the kite. In assembling the kite, the ribs are bowed to anextent that will permit the top member to reach the free edge of thecurved member. The gummed re-inforcing strip is moistened and the edgeof the top plane secured thereto, thus assembling the kite and holdingit in proper shape.

The string 8 by which the kite is held is secured at the middle of theend re-inforcing rib. The kite flies so easily and exerts so little pullon the string, that very light string, or even thread, may be used. Theair pressure against the flat upper surface causes the kite to rise. Therear end portion of the bottom member may flatten out under windpressure, thus acting as a lifting plane and causing the kite to assumean almost horizontal position. In a heavy gust of wind, the upper planecan yield or belly out, thus relieving the pressure. If for any reasonthe kite drops, it quickly rights itself and resumes its normalposition, shown iii-Fig. 3.

The herein described kite is easy to make,

and comparatively inexpensive. It may be shipped in the flat, thusreducing danger of breakage and the expense of transportation. It may beeasily assembled by the user. It is easy to handle and presents anattractive appearance in the air. Obviously, numerous changes may bemade without departing from the invention, and I do not wish to belimited to the precise construction shown nor to the precise method ofassembling described.

hat I claim is:

1. A hollow kite of sheet material in the form of a segment of acylinder and open at its ends, the curved portion of said kitecomprising transversely disposed ribs of flexible material that arenormally straight but are kept in flexed form by the material of theflat top portion of the kite.

2. A frameless kite comprising a top plane, a curved lower memberextending from side edge to side edge thereof, a transverse re-inforcingrib at one end of said curved member and a similar transversereinforcing rib at about the middle of said curved member.

3. A blank for a kite, comprising a sheet, a re-int'orcing membersecured along a portion of one side of said sheet, a second reinforcingmember secured to said sheet and being parallel to and of the samelength as said first reinforcing member, re-inforcing strips extendingacross the sheet at the ends of said re-inforcing members, one of saidre-inforcing strips projecting beyond the edge of the sheet and beingcoated with an adhesive whereby it is adapted to be secured to the otheredge of the sheet when the kite is assembled.

i. A kite comprising a substantially flat top member of sheet materialonly and a convex bottom member joined to said top member along bothsides thereof, said bottom member comprising sheet material andtransversely disposed ribs of flexible material thereon that are keptflexed and thereby tend to keep the top member taut.

5. A frameless; kite comprising a continuous flat top member withsubstantially parallel sides, and a continuous lower member in the formof a doWnWardly-convex curve, said members being joined along the Wholelength of their sides and said lower member having flexible reinforcingribs adapted to stretch the top member.

Signed at St. Louis, Missouri, this 18th day of December, 1922.

ALLEN B. XVILDER;

